Wendell Folks RV-8 Project - Page 54.

May 26, 2007:  The work to clear the foam around the lower cowl carburetor air intake was to put on another layer of glass inside the cowl around the first two layers.  That would assure a bond to the duct inside and outside the lip of the cowl as it was shipped from Van's Aircraft.  Unfortunately I managed to not take a photo of the new layer of glass Wendell applied to the duct.   I did remember to snap this photo of the two upper air flow components as they were "glued" to the upper cowl with some the epoxy mixed for the lower cowl duct work.  I made sure the outlines of the area where the two ramps meet the cowl were in place to not waste epoxy in areas where it would need to be sanded away.  Fiberglass cloth will be added to these ramps when the clecoes are removed in the next step.

Back to metal work again:  I had Wendell cut away and clean out the stitching on the baggage door spacer from the forward top skin.  As I expected, the firewall flexed forward with the cowl not in place.  The line of pre-punched rivets in the skin are accurate, so I had him match-drill the spacer and the bracket that will get the baggage door hinge attached.  This photo shows the hinge being match drilled to the bracket on the work bench.

This shot shows the hinge in place on the fuselage for the first time.   This was about an hour after the epoxy to the upper and lower cowl was applied.   That was the only reason I allowed the cowl to be installed to force the firewall to its proper location for mating up with the baggage door.

Speaking of the baggage door, here are all the major components.  The aluminum angle that will interface with the hinge is already cut to length and match-drilled to the skin at the correct location.  Some fluting has been done to one of the ribs that will go between the outer skin and inner panel of the door assembly.   That square piece of aluminum with the blue plastic on it is an optional doubler plate to go around the lock.  It is the same thing I did on my canopy lock.   That plate will be installed inside the pre-punched thinner doubler provided by Van's as part of the kit.

As a parting shot at the end of the day, I just had to see how the air duct was aligned with the filtered air box.  This duct will have a smoother surface when the last layer of glass is added to the inside.

May 28, 2007:  This Monday is Memorial Day in the USA.  A day off for me and a chance to work more hours with Wendell on his RV-8 project.  The focus today is the baggage door.  I have Wendell working to open the key lock hole with the deburring tool as he gets down to the fine edge just before the lock barrel will pass through the door and the doubler.

The work on the door required a change of one half of the hinge for one that has a 5/8" flange.  Since we had to get some of that hinge to get the trailing edge of the flaps to align with the ailerons, there was some left over hinge to do this job.  After the hinge was properly aligned and match drilled to the baggage door outer skin and the angle doubler, it was time to begin shaping the curve of the door.   The aft edge also needed to be sized to fit the opening to the baggage area.   Bending the compound curve with a different radius on both sides takes a long time, and it is all done by hand.  The fit is getting close, but not yet ready to match drill the ribs that will go under the outer door skin.  Wendell was also squaring up those ribs with the fluting pliers and a regular pair of pliers.  When the door finally rests in the correct position, the ribs will be drilled to match the outer skin.

Fitting the forward baggage door is considered one of the toughest parts of the project as far as getting good results that will be seen by anyone who sees the airplane.   I was glad I did not have to do this on my RV-9A since there is no baggage door up front of the instrument panel area.

May 30, 2007:  Another evening session where work continues on the baggage door.  The center lines were laid out on the flanges of the two ribs that frame the door.  The old "drill and cleco" technique gets another workout.

May 31, 2007:  I had a day trip out of town on business but managed to return in time to work with Wendell again this evening.   This time, the lock was fitted and an extra doubler plate was made to insure a solid mounting surface for the lock barrel.  The inner surface of the door was also match-drilled to the inside flanges of the two door ribs.  At the end of this evenings session, I instructed Wendell on the holes to be dimpled and the areas where countersinking would be needed.  I will see the results of that assignment when I visit on Saturday to begin the second annual inspection of my RV-9A airplane.